Setting up a Django Web Framework on a Scaleway Production-Optimized Instance running Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (Focal Fossa)

Django

Ubuntu

Focal-Fossa

Linux

Reviewed on March 27, 2025

Django is a web development framework that allows you to develop dynamic websites and applications. Django allows the use of less code and eases the creation of complex websites. It provides a very good structure and easy methods that help do the heavy lifting when writing web applications.

There are many different ways to install Django on Ubuntu:

• Django installation with pip in a virtual environment: By installing pip, any user on the system can install and use Django. The pip should always contain the latest stable Django. By using this method, you can install Django without affecting the entire system. This is typically the most practical and recommended approach to working with Django.

• Django installation from packages: Ubuntu repositories contain Django packages (using the apt package manager). The main disadvantage is the version contained in the repositories may lag behind the official versions available from the project.

• Django installation from its GitHub repository: if you wish to install the latest development version instead of the stable release.

In this tutorial, we install Django using pip in a virtual environment, as it is the most practical and most flexible way to install without affecting the larger system, along with other per-project customizations and packages.

Before you start

To complete the actions presented below, you must have:

• A Scaleway account logged into the console
• Owner status or IAM permissions allowing you to perform actions in the intended Organization
• An SSH key
• An Instance running on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (Focal Fossa) or later
• sudo privileges or access to the root user

Installing Django on Ubuntu with pip in a virtual environment

1. Update your local package index with apt:

   apt update

2. Check which version of Python you have installed. The version currently shipped with Ubuntu 20.04 is Python 3.8.2:

   root@Django:~# python3 -V
   Python 3.8.10

3. Install pip from the Ubuntu repositories:

   apt install python3-pip python3-django

4. Install the venv package with pip:

   apt install python3-venv

5. Once that is done, you can now start a new project in Django. Remember that whenever you start a new project, start by creating and moving into a new project directory.

   mkdir ~/newhostA
   cd ~/newhostA

6. Create a virtual environment within the project directory using the Python command that is compatible with your version of Python. We will call our virtual environment my_env.

   python3 -m venv my_env

   This will install standalone versions of Python and pip into an isolated directory structure within your project directory. A directory will be created with the name you select, which will hold the file hierarchy where your packages will be installed.

7. To install packages into the isolated environment, you must activate it by typing:

   source my_env/bin/activate

   Your prompt should change to reflect that you are now in your virtual environment. It will look something like:

   (my_env) root@Django:~/newhostA#

8. In your environment, install Django with pip:

   pip install django

9. Verify the version you have installed.

   django-admin --version

   which returns

   (my_env) root@Django:~/newhostA# django-admin --version
   4.1.7

   To leave your virtual environment, you need to issue the deactivate command from anywhere on the system:

   deactivate

   Your prompt should revert to the normal display.

   Note

   If you need to re-activate your virtual environment, move back into your project directory and run the following command:

   cd ~/newhostA
   source my_env/bin/activate

Creating a sample project

With Django installed, we can now start to create our project and test it on your development server using a virtual environment.

1. Create a directory for your project:

   mkdir ~/my-django
   cd ~/my-django

2. Create your virtual environment:

   python3 -m venv my_env

3. Activate the environment:

   source my_env/bin/activate

4. Install django in the environment:

   pip install django

5. To create your project, use django-admin <command> [options] which is Django's command-line utility for administrative tasks. In each Django project, a manage.py is automatically created.

   The startproject command enables you to create a new project. The command creates a directory within your current working directory that includes:

   • manage.py which you can use to administer various Django-specific tasks.
   • a directory (with the same name as the project) that includes the actual project code.

6. Create your project(myDjangoProject). Add a period at the end of the command to place the management script and inner directory in the current directory.

   django-admin startproject myDjangoProject .

7. Migrate the database (this example uses SQLite by default) using the migrate command with the manage.py application. Migrations apply any changes you have made to your Django models, to your database schema.

   python manage.py migrate

   which returns

   Operations to perform:
     Apply all migrations: admin, auth, contenttypes, sessions
   Running migrations:
     Applying contenttypes.0001_initial... OK
     Applying auth.0001_initial... OK
     Applying admin.0001_initial... OK
     Applying admin.0002_logentry_remove_auto_add... OK
     Applying admin.0003_logentry_add_action_flag_choices... OK
     Applying contenttypes.0002_remove_content_type_name... OK
     Applying auth.0002_alter_permission_name_max_length... OK
     Applying auth.0003_alter_user_email_max_length... OK
     Applying auth.0004_alter_user_username_opts... OK
     Applying auth.0005_alter_user_last_login_null... OK
     Applying auth.0006_require_contenttypes_0002... OK
     Applying auth.0007_alter_validators_add_error_messages... OK
     Applying auth.0008_alter_user_username_max_length... OK
     Applying auth.0009_alter_user_last_name_max_length... OK
     Applying sessions.0001_initial... OK

8. Create an administrative user so that you can use the Django admin interface using the createsuperuser command.

   python manage.py createsuperuser

9. Answer the prompts which will ask for:

   • A username
   • An email address
   • A password (containing at least 8 characters)
   (my_env) root@Django:~/my-django# python manage.py createsuperuser
   Username (leave blank to use 'root'): scaleway
   Email address: usertest@example.com
   Password:
   Password (again):
   Superuser created successfully.

Modifying Django settings

1. Open the settings file:

   nano myDjangoProject/settings.py

   To test your application, you will need to modify one of the directives in the Django settings. Locate the ALLOWED_HOSTS directive to define the addresses or domain names that may be used to connect to the Django Instance.

2. List the IP addresses or domain names that are associated with your Django server.

   Note

   Each item should be listed in quotations, with separate entries separated by a comma.

   . . .
   ALLOWED_HOSTS = ['your_server_ip_or_domain', 'your_second_ip_or_domain', . . .]

3. Save the file and exit.

Testing the development server

1. Start the development server:

   python manage.py runserver your_server_ip:8000

2. Visit your server's IP address followed by :8000 in your web browser http://your_internal_server_ip:8000 which should display:

   Open Image over content
   Close current Lightbox

3. Add /admin/ to the end of your URL. The login page displays.

4. Enter your username and password. The admin page displays.

   Open Image over content
   Close current Lightbox

   The Django project you have created provides the structural basis for designing a more complete website. Check out the Django documentation for more information about how to build your applications and customize your website.

Going further

To go further with Django, learn how to create models and configure your application with the API and the Admin Console.